YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyTransparency & AccountabilityFamilies above twice the poverty line could lose TANF help — states must spend the grant faster.
Your Money
States could use their TANF grant only for families whose income is under twice the federal poverty line. The cap covers both cash aid and services, and would start October 1, 2027.
Transparency & Accountability
The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 makes federal agencies measure and report payments made in error. States would have to follow that same law for their TANF programs.
The Department of Health and Human Services would have one year to send Congress a written plan. The plan must show how to end wrong TANF payments within ten years.
Each grant would have to be committed within one fiscal year and spent within two. A state could set aside up to 15 percent for later, capped at half of last year's grant.
Federal TANF dollars would have to add to state and local spending, not replace it. The state's governor would have to promise in writing that the money is not being swapped.
More about this bill
Families who earn more than twice the federal poverty line could no longer get help paid for by TANF. TANF is a federal grant that states use to give low-income families cash aid and services. That income limit would be new. It would cover services too, not just cash. States would face new rules on how they use the money. Each grant would have to be spent within two fiscal years of being paid. A state could set aside up to 15 percent for later use. Federal dollars could not replace what a state already spends on these programs. States would also have to track wrong payments, as federal agencies do. The changes would start on October 1, 2027.
Congressional Summary
Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF ActThis bill limits how and when states may use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds and establishes an eligibility threshold for all TANF-funded assistance and services.Currently, each state sets its own eligibility threshold for TANF-funded cash assistance. The bill establishes an upper limit on eligibility applicable to all assistance and services (including non-cash benefits) funded by TANF family assistance grants. Under this provision, only families with income under 200% of the federal poverty guidelines may receive TANF-funded assistance and services.Further, the bill generally requires states to obligate TANF funds by the end of the fiscal year after they are paid and to spend funds by the end of the second fiscal year after they are paid. However, states may reserve a specified portion of their TANF funds for future use. (There is currently no requirement to use TANF funds within a specified period.)The bill also explicitly requires states to use federal TANF funds to supplement, not replace, state and local funding for TANF-supported programs. (Current law requires states to spend a specified minimum amount on TANF-eligible activities and populations, known as the maintenance of effort requirement.)States must also take specified steps to track and report on improper payments of federal funds (e.g., overpayments, underpayments, payments to ineligible recipients). Within one year of enactment, HHS must submit to Congress a plan to reduce or eliminate improper payments made by states under the TANF program within 10 years.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Reported to House
- Action Date
- 2026-05-29
- Date Added
- 2026-06-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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